Antique 486 mbo update :)

Questions that don't belong in the other forums.
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Papcina
BIOS Newbie
Posts: 18
Joined: Thu Apr 05, 2007 2:04 pm

hi guys

well, duh.. u'll probably start laughing now, but..erm.. was wondering if it is possible to patch the bios of an old 486 mbo.. afaik it should be one of Soyo 25J/K/L mbo's... this is the ID string: 09/26/94-SIS-85C471B/E/G-2C4I9S23-00
the only thing i'd need a bios update is the boot options in bios.. i can choose now only between floppy or hard drive.. i'd like to have a cdrom option also..

so plz :) dont laugh :) i will try to use this as an DOS jukebox computer if sum1 manages to help me with bios...

thx once more

bb
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cp
BIOS Guru
Posts: 1914
Joined: Mon Oct 21, 2002 9:07 pm
Location: Germany

hmm..before you try anything: you'll need at least a 486 120MHz to handle a 128kbit mp3 in full stereo (with mpeg123 on a linux console)..and mpeg123 is FAST! so you should rather look for a socket5/7 board with a Intel Pentium, AMD K5 or Cyrix 6x86 (i'd use linux and a 6x86).
if you still want to install anything on the 486 board you should get installation disks, boot them and let the OS do the CD-ROM detection. FreeDOS and Linux do that out of the box.
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Papcina
BIOS Newbie
Posts: 18
Joined: Thu Apr 05, 2007 2:04 pm

umm yea, i think mpxplay should handle that..
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cp
BIOS Guru
Posts: 1914
Joined: Mon Oct 21, 2002 9:07 pm
Location: Germany

the requirements for mpxplay and mpeg123 are the same. so unless you have a very fast 486 you should rather look for a socket5/7 solution.
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Papcina
BIOS Newbie
Posts: 18
Joined: Thu Apr 05, 2007 2:04 pm

still, is there any newer bios? :)
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cp
BIOS Guru
Posts: 1914
Joined: Mon Oct 21, 2002 9:07 pm
Location: Germany

manual is here:
http://www.soyogroup.com/dl/manuals/486/25J-MU43.PDF

bios is not available..probably there is only the one you have. and btw. your mainboard may not have a flash-eprom. you need an eprom programmer to update the bios (if there would be any..)
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Papcina
BIOS Newbie
Posts: 18
Joined: Thu Apr 05, 2007 2:04 pm

dammit.. yea easy for eeprom burner, i can get one, the problem is in bios :(
kk thx anyway.. bb
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BiosMan
The BIOS Patcher
Posts: 81
Joined: Mon May 20, 2002 9:20 pm
Location: The Netherlands
Contact:
Contact BiosMan

Hi Papcina,
Wow! This thread stirred some dormant memory cells. :wink:
Back in 1998/99 I did al lot of Award BIOS patching for these 486 boards.

Your 09/26/94-SIS-85C471B/E/G-2C4I9S23-00 Rev.G2. is indeed the latest BIOS from Soyo for the 25J/K/L.
However, I have a newer 11/28/95-SIS-85C471B/E/G- BIOS, specially adapted for the 25J/K/L. This BIOS adds full AMD Am5x86-133 support incl. L1 cache Write-Back mode, and fixes the 2GB HDD display limit bug for correct support of drives up to 8GB. In addition this BIOS is Y2000 compliant.
If you don't have any plans to update your CPU or HDD, you can stick to the Rev.G2. BIOS but if you do, I can send you this updated BIOS.

Unfortunately, this new BIOS has no boot from CD-ROM either. I've never seen that in 486 and early Pentium BIOSes. This feature came years later and adding that to an old BIOS goes way above my expertise... :?

For detailed info on running the Am5x86-133 on a socket2/3 board, see my article at http://web.inter.nl.net/hcc/J.Steunebrink/amd5x86.htm You will also find my PM address there.

Greetings, Jan.
The Unofficial AMD K6-2+ / K6-III+ page
http://web.inter.nl.net/hcc/J.Steunebrink/k6plus.htm
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diodenmann
New visitors - please read the rules.
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue May 13, 2008 6:17 pm

Hi

Recently got one of those boards
I'm interested in this bios file.
Maybe you can send it to me still?

Thanks in advance
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Papcina
BIOS Newbie
Posts: 18
Joined: Thu Apr 05, 2007 2:04 pm

hmm sry dude, atm im at college and i wont be coming at home for a month or so... and i reeli dont know if i'd found that BIOS... maybe Bios Man could have the bios saved sumwhere...

sry once more
bye
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